


First Impressions May Be Deceiving

by bpd_changeling



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, Fluff and stuff, Javethrine, M/M, OT3, So no worries, but it all works out in the end, davey jumps to some conclusions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-17 10:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12363825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bpd_changeling/pseuds/bpd_changeling
Summary: Adventures at Larkin Academy of Specialized Learning, starring new student Davey Jacobs(Rated T for language)





	1. Welcome to Larkin Academy

**Author's Note:**

> I've written, deleted, and rewritten this chapter like ten times, oh my god. I think I've got it right now though. 
> 
> Basically, Jack does some things that make him seem like an asshole but its just a lot of misunderstandings, really. Enjoy!~

     It might have been the hair- that tousled black hair that screamed 'trying way too hard to look like I didn't try at all'. Or maybe it was the eyes- those intense blue-green eyes that seemed to look _into_ you instead of just at you. But most likely it was the sharp, amused smirk that made you feel like he knew everything about you and exactly how to use it against you. Either way, David knew from the first glance that he didn't like Jack Kelly. And maybe it was stupid to make enemies on the first day at your new boarding school, but David couldn't bring himself to care. He hadn't asked to be sent off to Larkin Academy of Specialized Learning, this weird school he'd never even heard of that was apparently designed for kids with mental disorders or "unique learning styles", and he _definitely_ didn't ask for an arrogant, obnoxious, and annoyingly attractive tour guide.

     "So this is the library," Jack was saying. "Probably gonna be your new home, by the looks of you." His voice sounded teasing, and David felt a flare of anger.

"What makes you say that?" he demanded. Jack shrugged.

"I dunno, you've just got that look in your eye like you desperately wanna learn something. Or at least I thought you did. Guess not, if the idea of liking the library offends you so much. Something wrong with reading?" He was definitely teasing now, and David wanted more than anything to smack that stupid smirk off his face. He could feel himself flushing.

"Of course there's nothing wrong with reading!" he said hotly. "Don't be moronic."

"Hey, hey, watch your fucking language," Jack said, half joking, half stern. David rolled his eyes.

"Oh, so you can say 'fucking', but I can't say 'moronic'?" he quipped. Jack clicked his tongue.

"Yeah, because one's an ableist slur and one isn't. No one here gives a damn about cursing, Davey, but I'm not gonna stand for any of that nonsense. No 'stupid', no 'dumb', no 'lame', no 'freak', no 'spaz', no 'psycho', and no 'moronic'."

     David actually thought that was a good point, something he'd never considered before, but he was too pissed to admit that now.

"What gives you the right to tell anyone here what they can and can't say? What's your authority?" he hissed, glaring. Jack straightened up, somehow managing to look even more cocky than before. A glint of light reflected from a small bronze badge on a chain around his neck caught David's eye, and he groaned internally.

"I'd say being Head Boy is a pretty good level of authority, wouldn't you?" David was about to snap back a response when he realized something and froze.

"Did you just call me Davey?" Jack grinned.

"Yep! If you're gonna be one of us, you need a nickname." David thought he might have snarled aloud.

"I don't want to be one of _anything_ you are."

     Jack seemed to finally realize how furious David was, because he backed up.

"Geez, alright then, no nickname. I didn't mean any harm. I'm sorry I was teasing you and all that. Truth is, when I saw you, you looked like the kind of person who belonged here, so I just started talking to you like one of the guys. My mistake." David blinked. His thoughts twisted in confusion. Jack was apologizing? And even more curious, he had thought David looked like he belonged here? What did that even mean? He needed time to process this. He needed to put the conversation on a lighter track.

     "So... If you need a nickname to be part of the group, do you have one? What can I call you?" Jack's smile returned immediately, though if David wasn't mistaken, it was little softer now, the tiniest bit hesitant. But when he spoke, of course, his words were as smooth and confident as ever.

"Well, you can call me babe if you're nice enough." He delivered the line with a wink, and David's face flamed. Was he being _flirted with_? By a hot boy who he'd thought was a total asshat two seconds ago? Although... now that he'd thought about it, it had probably been more than two seconds.

     He stopped in the middle of the hallway, turning to Jack with wide eyes.

"We've walked past over a dozen rooms, and you haven't told me what any of them are!" Jack looked around, surprised, and then let out a chuckle.

"Well damn, Davey, you're exactly right. You know what? Clearly I'm a shitty tour guide, but I have a map if you want it." David stared at him incredulously.

"You had a map the whole time, and you're just telling me _now_?" Jack held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Well, excuse me for not having the best memory while I'm distracted by a cute boy. I'm not exactly analyzing for the most efficient route here." Davey thought he was going to melt into the floor. This was the most blatant flirtation he'd ever been on the receiving end of, and he had no idea how to feel abou-

     There was a sudden squeal from down the hallway, and a moment later a blur of red hair collided with Jack's chest. Jack beamed and spun the girl around with a whoop of joy.

"Jesus, Kat!" he exclaimed when she was firmly on the ground. "I love you to death, but that was not good for my back; remind me not to do that again any time soon! Anyway, how was your summer? I swear to god, I don't know how I survived being three states away for two months." The girl- Kat, apparently- covered her nose when she giggled. It was an adorable gesture, but David couldn't stop to appreciate it because he was too busy being hit full-force by the realization that _holy crap, these two were dating_. Which meant that he'd just been flirted with by a taken man. Which also meant that there was a nine out of ten chance that Jack had been trying to _cheat_ on Kat with him.

     David's original resentment flared again. His whole body tensed and he crossed his arms over his chest. But only for a second, because then Kat looked his way and he had to force a smile.

"Hi, you must be new!" she said. "I'm Katherine Plumber, I'm the Head Girl." Oh, she _had_ to be joking.

"David Jacobs," he said as politely as he could, trying not to sound pitying while his mind kept thinking, _'Oh, the poor girl.'_ If Jack was willing to try something with him, he was probably messing around with half a dozen other kids behind Katherine's back as well.

"It's great to meet you, David. Oh!" She looked at Jack again. "I almost forgot; I saw your- the Headmistress. She wants to talk to you." Jack groaned, but he was still grinning, so clearly he wasn't too fazed.

"Alright, yeah, I'll go see what she wants. Finish up Davey here's tour for me, yeah? I was a crappy guide. Hey, Davey, here's your map." He pressed a folded piece of paper into David's hands and, with a last cheeky wave, disappeared around a corner.

     David's first instinct was to tear up the paper, but that would do more harm than good; he would still have to find all his classes. So he just let Katherine steer him along, unfolding the sheet to analyze the intricate but neat drawing of the school. It was obviously the work of an artist, and it made David's stomach flutter a little, but he shoved the feeling down. He refused to feel anything but contempt for the lying, cheating, arrogant asshole with the stunning eyes. Nope, nothing at all.


	2. The Poor Guy's Head Is Spinning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Davey realizes that everything is not as he originally thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romeo is Asian because I said so
> 
> Me? Create a boarding school with a high percentage of ADHD and/or autistic students so that I could rant about my own hyperfixations in character? ...Maybe.

     Katherine, it turned out, was a much better tour guide than Jack. She enthusiastically pointed out rooms to David, explaining which ones David would probably need to find again and slipping in funny anecdotes about things that had happened in one place or another. David listened eagerly and laughed at all the right times. He couldn't help but like Katherine, which just made it harder to walk around with the knowledge of what had transpired between him and Jack.

_'How could he?'_ he thought angrily.  _'How could anyone ever want to be anything other than faithful to someone as sweet and genuine and funny and beautiful as this girl?'_  

     "Let's go back to the common room," Katherine suggested. "I want to introduce you to all our friends; I think you'll really like them. You've got that vibe that says you'll fit right in/" That was funny; Jack had said the same thing. David still didn't understand what it meant, so he just nodded agreeably

"Sure thing, Katherine, lead the way."

"Oh, call me Kat," she corrected amicably as they turned down a hallway. "All the guys do." David nodded again.

"Alright then, Kat."

     When Kat had mentioned her friends, David was picturing four or five people sitting around and chatting casually. So he was in no way prepared when the common room door swung open and he was immediately bombarded with a wave of noise an color and movement. There were three boys play-wrestling on the floor, a boy with glasses reading while hanging upside-down off the back of a couch (David didn't know how on Earth the glasses were staying on his face), a auburn-haired kid imitating bird noises at a couple of their friends, and about a dozen others.

"Jesus, is this the whole school?" David asked in awe. Kat laughed.

"No, silly, this is just Common Room 1. There are three of them- 1, 2, and B. And before you ask, no one knows why the numbering system is weird, though Spot Conlon will insist that the B stands for Brooklyn. He's kind of obsessed." David made a mental note of this, though he wasn't sure when it would be relevant. He couldn't ponder on it long, though.

     "Hey, guys, Queen Kat has arrived with the newbie!  
 This came from a short Asian boy who had been painting his nails on the floor. Careful not to mess up the polish, the boy got to his feet and half-skipped over.

"I've told you not to call me that, Romeo," Kat admonished. The boy- Romeo- grinned cheekily.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Your Highness." He turned his attention toward David. "Heya! You're the new kid. Davey, right? Jack mentioned." Kat blinked.

"He's back already? Where is he?" Her eyes swept the room, scanning for her boyfriend. David hoped the bitterness wasn't showing on his face.

"Oh, he just ran to his room to get his sketchbook; he'll be back in a second, and then we can officially start Intros."

"Um... what's that?" David asked nervously. "Is it just, like, your name, or..." Romeo shook his head sympathetically.

"It's nothing big, no worries. We all just go around and say our name, nickname if we have one, pronouns, sexuality, and a fun fact about us." David bit his lip.

"I dunno, that kinda sounds like a lot." Kat laughed lightly and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, no one expects you to remember it all the first time through. If two months from now you're still asking, 'Wait, what's your last name?' or 'You're... gay, right?" literally no one will be surprised." David sighed, relieved.

     Just then, Jack swaggered back into the room from a side hall which David could only presume led to the dorms. Without hesitating for a moment, he laid down across the laps of three other boys sitting on the couch. The boys looked slightly annoyed, but there was affection in their exasperated gazes. David had to wonder at that. Why did people here all seem so fond of this incredibly rude guy? For a moment, he remembered the feeling of Jack's gaze, intense and penetrating yet playful and mischievous. Then he shoved the feeling aside as Romeo clapped his hands for attention.

     "Alright, guys, you all know how it goes. I'll start." He waved at David. "My name's Roman Teller, but everyone calls me Romeo. He/him pronouns. I'm pansexual, and a fun fact is that I hate Finch with all my being because they ate all my Cheeto puffs." The kid who had been making bird noises earlier grinned.

"Sorry, not sorry!" they said, and Romeo flipped them off. Apparently there was some order to this thing, because someone else started speaking without being prompted.

"Antonio Higgins," the blonde boy said. "Nicknamed Racetrack, he/him, bi as hell, and a fun fact is that Tommy Boy owes me ten dollars because I caught Jojo and Buttons kissing earlier." The commotion caused by this revelation took several minutes to die down, but once it did, the group carried on with introductions. Despite Kat's reassurances, David tried desperately to keep track of it all:

     Charlie Morris, called Crutchie, he/him/ bi, leg badly damaged in a car crash when he was younger.

Brendan Robins, called Blink, he/him, bi, lost his left eye in a fight.

Jesus Martinez, called Sniper, he/him or she/her depending on the day, life goal is to annoy as many people as possible. (Race said he'd already succeeded.)

Emma Smalls, just called Smalls, she/her, lesbian, willing to fight anyone who says pineapples don't go on pizza. (Davey thought she'd get along famously with his sister, Sarah.)

Fitch Fitzgerald, called Finch, they/them, pan, autistic and their special interest is birds.

Henry Liu, he/him, bi, apparently dating both Crutchie and Finch.

Ryan Kinsey, called Mush, he/him, gay, generally just a ridiculously enthusiastic person.

Jose de la Guerra, called Jojo, he/him, bi, no verbal filter.

Louis Miller, called Buttons, he/him, gay, loves Disney "more than anyone else ever." (There was some debate on this.)

Albert DaSilva, he/him, gay, really tired and wishes people would stop waking him up from his nap to make him participate in things.

Eliasz Kasprzak, called Elmer, he/him or they/them, pan, loves The Princess Bride more than life itself.

Benjamin Green, called Specs, he/him, bi, lightheaded from reading upside down for so long.

Thomas Gardner, called Tommy Boy, he/him, pan aro, doesn't actually have ten dollars to pay Race but is willing to give him chocolate and Pokemon cards, which he honestly thinks is better anyway. (Race seemed to disagree.)

Michael Scott, called Mike, he/him, gay, a basketball player.

Isaac Scott, called Ike, he/him, ace aro, Mike's identical twin and a baseball player.

     Finally, Jack was the only one left. He had sat up and was now squished between two of the three boys- who David now knew were Crutchie, Race, and Blink- instead of lying over them.

"Jack Kelly," he said. "He/him, hella bi, and..." He bit his lip. "I dunno, there isn't really anything interesting about me, so I'll just say that I love all these guys a lot because, y'know, they're amazing. So just, like, treat 'em right, okay?"

     Holy shit. How the hell was David supposed to hate this guy when he said things like _that?_ It made him rethink all the events of the day. Was it possible that he had read Jack wrong? Had he misinterpreted the situation? He still wasn't so sure about the Katherine thing, but it occurred to him that lying on the boys' laps may have been a sign of closeness rather than rudeness. Now that he thought of it, it seemed obvious, and David mentally hit himself for so easily jumping to the wrong conclusions. He offered Jack a smile.

"No worries, dude, I wouldn't want to hurt any of them; you all seem like cool people. Oh! And, um, I'm David Jacobs. I-" Eh, why not? "As of today, I guess my nickname is Davey." Jack practically beamed. "He/him pronouns, pansexual, and um... I really love snakes."

     There were some cheers at the conclusion of his introduction. Within a moment, he was being pulled into a conversation with some of the guys.

"You like books, Davey?" Romeo demanded.

"Uh, yeah."

"Good. Can you tell my idiot boyfriend that James and Lily Potter's relationship was  _not_ toxic?" Davey grimaced. He actually had a lot of thoughts on this particular subject.

"Alright, listen up," he told Specs. "James was an asshat in his early years, for sure, but he grew out of it. Like Sirius said, a lot of people are idiots at sixteen. He matured. He stopped hexing people. He joined the Order right out of school. And he loved Lily so much, he willingly sacrificed his life for her. Besides, Lily Evans was a fierce, strong, clever, boss ass witch. You really think she would have even  _considered_ dating James if he was still a douchebag? That's honestly an insult to her intelligence. Don't you remember the wedding photo? Lily was described as  _alight with happiness_. Doesn't exactly sound like someone who was forced into a marriage, now does it? If you want to get into more reasons James is not the bad guy, I can go all day, but I'm hoping by now you have seen the error of your ways."

     He glared defiantly at Specs, who seemed to be thinking over his words.

"But can someone really go from being a completely awful person to a great one in just a couple years? It seems improbable." If this were a cartoon, steam might have been coming out of Davey's ears.

"Okay, James Potter was  _never_ a completely awful person. From the start, he hated the Dark Arts and blood purist ideology. He started the extremely difficult and highly dangerous process of becoming an Animagus at twelve years old to help a werewolf that he'd only met the year before. He took in Sirius as a brother because he knew his home life was so bad. James did some shitty things, but he was never just an innately bad person." Specs stared at him for a moment. Then he broke into an unexpected grin.

"That was a test and you passed," he said. "We had to make sure you A) knew James was good and B) had the info to back it up. We would have just asked, but anxiety interferes with word flow and anger seems to solve that issue. Anyway, you've officially made the Lit Nerd Squad."

     Davey couldn't help but grin back.

"Oh, nice! How many members of the Squad are there?" he asked.

"Seven now, including you. Kat, Elmer, Henry, and Jack are in it too." Davey wasn't sure why he wasn't more surprised to find that the laid-back Jack Kelly was actually a literature nerd and a Harry Potter fan, but it just... made sense somehow. Davey got the sense Jack could do a little bit of everything.

"Is there a leader of the Squad?"

"Lookin' to take the job, Dave?" Jack said, appearing beside him with that perpetual grin on his face. "Nah, I'm just messing with you. We have a leader, but you haven't met him yet. Our man Denton teaches Lit and Creative Writing. If you've got either of those classes, you'll meet him on Monday." Davey nodded.

"Sounds good. So, um..." He bit his lip. Seeing his hesitation, Jack's expression softened.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Davey said quickly. "It's not really my business at all. I don't want to seem like I'm nosing around or judging anybody or something." Jack shook his head.

"Ah, don't worry about it, Davey. We, the kids of Common Room 1, are one big family. Our lives are your life, so ask away."

"Alright then, um... I know Crutchie, Finch, and Henry are dating. So, like, are you- or, I mean- are a lot of you, you know... poly?"

     He couldn't possibly have phrased that question any more awkwardly, but Jack smiled and squeezed his shoulder- firmly, as if he sensed that Davey hated light touch- as he answered. "Yeah, a handful of is. Race and Albert? They're dating, but Albert is dating Elmer, and Race is dating that Common Room B kid, Sean Conlon. We call him Spot. Oh, and Henry was with Jojo and Buttons for a bit, but they broke it off, and they seem comfortable as a pair for now. And then there's Kat and me. I love her more than I can sey, but we both agree there's something- or rather someone- missing. We're just, y'know, waiting for the right person." He stared straight into Davey's eyes as he said this, and for what seemed like the millionth time that day, Davey prayed that he wasn't blushing.

     "Well, uh... best of luck with that?" he managed. For a moment, there was a flicker of mischief in Jack's eye, but then it vanished and he was just grinning like normal.

"Thanks, Davey, that means a lot! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta talk to my ma about something before dinner." Davey raised his eyebrows.

"Why is your mom still here? I thought all the parents would have left by now." Jack smirked the classic I-know-something-you-don't smirk.

"Well, yeah," he said slowly. "But my ma is kind of the Headmistress, so..." He winked as he got to his feet and, as was rapidly becoming a custom, he disappeared from the room, leaving Davey with his head spinning.


End file.
